me @alivelshi. thank you for watching. cnn newsroom is up next. hello, everyone. you're in the cnn newsroom. i'm fredricka whitfield. it's a sprint to the finish line for the presidential candidates with just three days left to go until election day. barack obama and mitt romney are making the most of every minute. both are crisscrossing the country and hitting the crucial battleground states one last time. the president's first stop today was a rally in ohio where he told a cheering crowd that his economic ideas are working. he's also stumping in wisconsin, iowa, and virginia. all today. and as we mentioned, wisconsin is one of those critical swing states the candidates are concentrating on.

and campaign workers on both sides are out knocking on doors, trying to get people to the polls. white house correspondent brianna keilar joining us live from milwaukee, wisconsin. it will be a while before the president speaks there, but you got a crowd and lots of music, nonetheless. >> that's right. and this crowd is eagerly awaiting not only the president but katy perry who will be performing a small concert before president obama. here in wisconsin it's all about for the obama campaign getting people out to vote now on election day. early voting wrapped up in this state yesterday, but here, voters can also register as well as vote on the same day. back in 2008, more than 1 in 10 voters in the badger state did that. that's what the obama campaign is focusing on. when the president talks in the 4:00 p.m. eastern hour, he's going to be trying to counter as he did in ohio, mitt romney's message about being the candidate of real change. he's been saying to his supporters that mitt romney is

not about change, and also he's been trying to urge them to be patient, saying that the economic recovery is on the right track. >> after four years as president, you know me. you may not agree with everything decision i have made, you may at times have been frustrated by the pace of change, but you know what i believe. you know where i stand. >> the insin uation there very clear, the president saying mitt romney is the unknown. now, here in wisconsin when you look at the polls, president obama has been trending ahead by a few points when you look at a number of polls. that's not a comfortable lead for the obama campaign. but it is a significant one. it is a consistent one. and they're trying to maintain that as they move towards election day. and they try to keep wisconsin as well as the other midwestern firewall states, ohio and iowa, in their column, fred. >> and all this while the

president says the recovery from the storm is still first priority. how is he trying to stay ahead of that, at the same time campaign to keep his job? >> that's right. it's a tricky line to walk because here he is three days out from election day. he has to be campaigning obviously, and that's the sense the obama campaign has, but he has to be careful, especially as some more bad weather heads to that very vulnerable region. the difference today not only is president obama staying in close contact with his advisers, with cabinet secretaries and with local officials in these storm effected areas, but he actually has members of his cabinet blanketing the effected regions, his secretaries of health and human services, of homeland security, of housing. they're out in new jersey, new york, connecticut as well as some of his top advisers. so sort of serving in his place because he can't be there. and the campaign being very careful to point that out, that he's certainly managing his

obligations as president while he's also campaigning here on the trail, fred. >> all right, thank you so much from milwaukee, wisconsin. and jim acosta is with the romney campaign, which is getting ready for a rally in dubuque, iowa, after a morning stop in new hampshire. we'll have a report from jim in just a few minutes. now let's get the latest on recovery. five days after superstorm sandy, new york governor andrew cuomo said temporary fuel trucks will be deployed around the new york city area to alleviate the gas shortages. drivers will be able to fill up directly from the tankers. new yorkers can also get around the city a little easier now as well. >> 80% of the subway service has been restored. that is under literally, under one week, 80% of the subway service has been restored from what was horrendous damage. >> across the river in new jersey, there is gas rationing in 12 counties in an effort to cut don on wait times there.

people have been waiting there in long lines for hours to gas up cars and get fuel for their generators. >> our jim clancy is in long beach, new jersey, which is on the jersey shore. it's very windy, and that cold front that is apparently going to move in this weekend, jim, give me an idea of what's happening there in terms of people trying to recover, pick up the pieces, move on, what? >> there's a major push going on long beach island today. they have brought in scores of heavy pieces of heavy equipment, utility trucks that are trying to repair some of the electrical lines, the overheadlines. this is long beach boulevard. this is where all of the major traffic flows, all of the power lines flow. as you can see, there goes a major flatbed truck, probably to take in or out some of the heavy earth moving equipment. this is one of the check points they have set up here, fredricka. a check point to insure that no

one can get on this island. no one can pass into these areas that isn't authorized to do it. that's created a lot of, well, resentme resentment, let's be honest, about people not on the island who have properties here. they want desperately to get out and see what is going on with their properties. to repair them, if it's at all possible. they're not going to be able to do that. meantime, according to mayor joseph mencini who told me there may be as many as 1,000 people who have refused to leave the island. they sat out the storm cand the say they're not going away. we wondered why. we talked to one, james. listen to how he describes his reasoning. >> i can't leave, go there, go to work, and then come back. i have to stay here. if i leave, i don't know when i'll get back on the island and i have to protect the property, and i'm protecting the property of several of my neighbors by opening the windows and letting it ventilate. >> now, it's going to be tough

because, you know, he admits he has water, but he doesn't have electrici electricity, doesn't have gas. there's no hot water. it's tough for the people trying to stick it out here. it all depends on when the other people are going to be able to return, when the infrastructures are going to be restored. according to the people trying to oversee this whole process, including the army and air national guard, it's going to take some time. it's absolutely going to take some time. and they don't want to let people back on the island because they want to be able to move the heavy equipment in without being impeded by the presence of what would be certainly thousands upon thousands of people in their vehicles. fredricka. >> big job, lots of misery. thanks so much, jim clancy in long beach, new jersey. and just across the river, this is what happens when power is restored. >> that was in new york city's east village yesterday. power back on in about 67,000

homes. about 70% of those in the city who lost power in the storm now have it back on. oformer top economic adviser to president barack obama breaks down the jobs report and tells us whether he thinks it will impact the election. plus, it's in five days since the superstorm named sandy, but will the states impacted have polling places ready. the election is three day s awa. we'll see what's being done.

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romney and obama campaigns. republicans are emphasizing the increase in the unemployment rate from 7.9% to 7.8%. supporters of the president point out 171,000 jobs were created during the month, more than economists projected. i had a chance to talk about the impact of the numbers with the former chairman of the president's council of economic advisers. he's now a professor of economics at chicago's booth school of business. i asked him if he agreed with mitt romney's assessment that the, quote, increase in the unemployment rate is a sad reminder that the economy is at a virtual standstill. >> i don't think so. the last month, the unemployment rate came down three ticks. and the romney campaign complained that we hadn't created more jobs. this month, the number of jobs created was 30%, 40% higher than expected and was fairly strong.

and then they criticize that the unemployment rate ticked up one tenth. it's the last number before the election, so i think both sides are going to see, try to go through and interpret what it means. i think overall, most economists view it as a fairly solid report. and until we get the growth rate of the economy up faster than 2%, 2.5%, this is probably about what we should expect from a solid report. >> how does one explain the kind of inconsistency? 7.9%. that's up, with unemployment. then you talk about adding 171,000 jobs in october. >> yeah, a great question. a lot of people misunderstood how the jobs work. there's two surveys. the jobs come from a survey of businesses. the unemployt rate comes from a survey of people.

each month, there's a lot of variability in both of those. all economists say don't look at any one month. take an average of the last several months to get an idea of the trend that is far more accurate. essentially what happened this month is we got a strong number coming from the businesses. you had a small tick up in the share of people participating in the labor force, so some of the people who had dropped out and don't count as unemployed came back in looking for jobs as consumer confidence rose and they thought the economy was getting better. >> where are these jobs, the jobs that are being created or made available? what sectors? >> you saw pretty solid job growth in all sectors of the economy except for government employment. government employment again fell pretty significantly, but across services, even manufacturing has been having some pretty good job growth. and retail trade, so it was kind of across the board for this month.

overall, what you have seen is the health sector, if you say over the last two years, where have the jobs been growing? they haven't been really in anything touching on the housing market. so real estate, construction, those things haven't done well. but a lot of services, a lot of export related, and a lot of manufacturing have been kind of the sectors leading it. >> so the president is promising in the next four years if elected he will create jobs in the millions. mitt romney is promising if elected he'll create 12 million jobs. but at the same time, romney underscoring government isn't the one that creates jobs. how does either one deliver on the promise of creating millions of jobs? >> well, you know, the first thing to note is when an economy is growing, even at a moderate pace, it's going to generate a lot of jobs. i think if you look at the last two, two and a half years in the u.s. economy, we have added more

than 5 million jobs in the private sector. so it's been growing at around 2 million a year. under the romney call, what he's calling for to get 12 million, that would have to go up to 3 million a year from 2 million. a lot of people think that regardless of what happens in washington, you would probably see something along the lines of those, of those kind of rates because the economy will move its way back to the trend growth of 3%, 3.5%. i think one, you have to hope that the macroeconomy goes with you. two, i think the policy can make a difference on the margin. and there's a difference of opinion between the two camps, romney's view that high income tax cuts and deregulation lead to growth. the obama view that it's investments in infrastructure, the work force, things of that nature that will lead to faster growth. and you know, you have to pick

one or the other. >> and then quickly, yes or no, will voters take these numbers, these jobs numbers just days before election day, into the voting booth with them? >> probably not. i mean, certainly not the people whose power is out and they're dealing with the hurricane damage and stuff like that. but evidence is pretty clear that people get a general impression of the economy as opposed to looking and sayingering well, this was 171,000 and it was expected to be 125,000 so therefore i'm going to be really happy. >> that was the former chairman of the president's council of economic advisers. jim acosta is traveling with the romney campaign for a rally in dubuque, iowa, after a morning stop in new hampshire. he filed this recoport just a f minutes ago. >> mitt romney is in the middle of a battleground blitz you might say in the last weekend before election day. he's been barnstorming from one state to the next. starting in new hampshire, he's

here in iowa, then to colorado, then comes back to iowa this evening. underscoring how important this battleground state is to incampaign math. he's been detailing his five-point economic plan, talking about how he wants to reduce the deficit, eliminate the president's health care law if he's elected president of the united states, and he's also going at what he believes to be a problem for the president in the final days of the campaign. he's been saying that the president has not been living up to his promises of bipartisanship in washington, and romney says if he's elected president, he will bring the country together. here's what he had to say. >> he said he was going to be a post partisan president. he has been most partisan in dividing and attacking. he also said he would cut the deficit in half. he doubled it. he was going to get unemployment down to 5.2% right now. we just learned on friday it's up to 7.9%. >> earlier in the day, the candidate's wife, ann romney,

visited the back of the campaign plane and handed out breakfast food to the reporters covering the race for the last year and a half. asked how she's feeling about the race, she said she's been touched by the people she's run across in the final weeks of the campaign. people have come up to her and told her about their struggles in this economy right now. as for this campaign, the way this is going to wrap up this weekend is that mitt romney is going to be heading off to ohio on sunday, and also pennsylvania, a battleground state, they believe they're now putting into play, and by the looks of it, it's getti more and more competitive as we head towards election day. jim acosta, cnn, dubuque, iowa. >> thanks so much, jim. not just the white house. democrats and republicans are waging a fierce fight for control of the u.s. house. hear why one party has the upper hand. ♪ ♪

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new polls out of some key battleground states. in ohio, a just released cnn/orc poll shows president obama ahead of mitt romney by just three points, well within the margin of error. an nbc/wall street journal/maris poll shows obama leading by six

points. it's also close in florida. in this poll, obama has a two-point edge. that's within the sampling error. but a mason dixon poll shows obama trailing romney by six percentage points, so a mixed picture there from two different polls in such a key state. >> democrats are hoping, they're only three days away from taking back control of the u.s. house, but as athena jones reports, they face an uphill battle. >> republicans won control of the house in 2010. riding a wave of victory by tea party-backed candidates carrying a message of fiscal conservatism and strong opposition to obama care. so what's going to happen this time around? >> it's all got to go! >> back in september, nancy pelosi had high hopes for her party's prospects. >> we have a very excellent chance to take back the house. >> so did republican house speaker john boehner. >> i continue to feel confident about house republicans' chances

of holding on to our majority. >> republicans have 242 seats to the democrats' 193. so democrats need a net gain of 25 seats to win the majority. analysts say that's not likely to happen. >> the republicans will control the house again after november, so they'll probably suffer very minimal losses if they suffer losses at all. >> for republicans, obama care is still front and center. along with the economy. democrats have tried to link republicans to paul ryan's plans to turn medicare into a voucher program, something democrats say would be disastrous for seniors. republicans believe they have neutralized that message by arguing obama care hurts seniors by slashing medicare. redistricting will have a big impact, helping republicans. >> for the most part, republicans because they made such overwhelming gains not only in congress but in state legislatures last year, they

were able to control the redistricting process in a lot of key states. for example, north carolina, where democrats will probably lose a couple seats this cycle. >> gop gains look likely in districts from north carolina to arkansas, among others. in fact, party operatives say they even put traditional blue states like rhode island and massachusetts into play. democrats are trying hard to unseat gop incumbents in blue states like california, new york, and illinois. and could see gains in maryland and florida. so why do these house races matter? members of congress will have to make big decisions in the coming month. chief among them, reaching a deal to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff, a series of tax increases and spending cuts set to take effect next year. >> the decisions confronting congress over the next four months are bigger than i think most of us have seen in our lifetime, at least on the fiscal matter. >> it's not just the fiscal cliff. >> most people think we need fundamental tax reform, cuts in

spending and entitlement reform. there's no indication the new congress will be willing to do that either short-term in the lame duck or longer term. >> so the forecast for the next congress, more of the same. athena jones, cnn, washington. >> and we have more on the race to the white house. first lady michelle obama is expected to speak any minute now in southern ohio. you're looking at live pictures right now. looks like a gymnasium of the university auditorium there. we'll take you there as soon as michelle obama enters.

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it is indeed crunch time for the presidential candidates. election day is just three days uz way, and both campaigns are making a final push in the battleground states. mitt romney wrapped up a rally in dubuque, iowa. earlier, he was in new hampshire and later he makes two stops in colorado. president obama was in ohio, then he's in wisconsin and iowa and he ends the day in virginia. now to the latest on the

aftermath of superstorm sandy. gas is now being rationed in 12 counties in new jersey in an effort to cut down on wait times. people there have been waiting in very long lines for miles and for hours to gas up their cars and get fuel for generators. >> i was in line at three gas stations. they all closed down while i was getting close. >> this is your fourth try? >> the federal emergency management agency has been coordinated with states to accelerate the distribution of fuel to retail locations. >> so despite the long lines at gas stations, sandy is expected to lower gas prices for election day. aaa reports the national price for a gallon of gas fell 1.3 cents to $3.48. they say during the stretch of declines, the average price s dropped nearly 33 cents. >> a california family won't have to worry about the price of

gas anymore. lottery officials have found the winner of a $23 million super lotto plus ticket just days before the ticket expired. the winner came forward after her daughter realized she had bought the ticket and given it to her mom. officials had launched a media campaign to try to find her. >> she called me at 11:00 at night, woke me up and said this is you, you have to see it. i said no, no, i'll see it in the morning. i went to sleep. i woke up and i had all these missed calls and texts. i was like, wait a minute, maybe i should see what this is. as soon as i pulled it up, i was like, oh, my god, that is me. i was like -- >> oh, my. the lucky winner says she is going to use the money to help family members including two special needs children that she adopted. >> i want to take you straight to oxford, ohio, now where first lady michelle obama is there

stumping for her husband, the president. she's at the miami university. let's listen in. >> how focused we are. how heartbroken barack and i are because of those who have suffered through hurricane sandy. barack has been working tirelessly with our governors and our mayors and our extraordinary first responders to make sure that those communities get all the support they need. and even in these times of great excitement, we have to stay focused on the fact that when people suffer in this country, we all come together. and we have to keep our thoughts and prayers going out to everyone there and make sure we stand behind them. okay? [ cheers and applause ] so let me get started by first thanking alex for that very kind introduction. i also want to thank your provost as well as his wonderful

wife, who have joined us today. thank you so much for hosting us here at miami university. yeah. >> a few thank yous there from the first lady of the united states, michelle obama at miami university. we'll be right back with our continuing live coverage in this last blitz weekend before election day. that was me... the day i learned i had to start insulin for my type 2 diabetes. me... thinking my only option was the vial and syringe dad used. and me...

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back to the campaign trail. first lady michelle obama stumping for her husband, the president of the united states, at the university -- rather at miami university in oxford, ohio, which happens to be the

alma mater of the republican vice presidential nominee, paul ryan. let's listen in. >> like so many families in this country, our families just weren't asking for much. they didn't want much, and they didn't begrudge anyone else's success. they didn't mind if others had much more. in fact, they admired it. that's why they pushed us to be the best we could be. but they simply believed in that fundamental american promise, that even if you don't start out with much, if you work hard and do what you're supposed to do, then you should be able to build a decent life for yourself and an even better life for your kids and grandkids. and they also believed that when you worked hard and have done well and you finally walk through that doorway of opportunity, you don't slam it shut behind you. you reach back and you give other folks the same chances that helped you succeed.

[ cheers and applause ] and that's is how barack and i, and i know so many of you were raised. and more than anything else, that is what this election is all about. it's a choice. it's a choice about our values and our hopes and our aspirations. it's a choice about the america we want to leave for our kids and our grandkids. and what does that america look like? what do we believe? we believe in an america where every child in this country has access to good schools. and prepare them for jobs of the future. we believe in an america where no one goes broke or loses their home because someone gets sick or loses a job. we believe in an america where we all understand that none of us gets where we are on our own, and we treat everyone, do you

hear me, everyone with dignity and respect, from the teachers who inspire us to the janitors who keep our schools clean. and in this america that we are working to build together, we believe that the truth matters. that you don't take shortcuts or game the system. and finally, we believe in keeping our priorities straight because everyone here knows good and well that cutting sesame street is no way to balance our budget. >> all right, again, the first lady there of the united states, michelle obama, stumping for her husband at the miami university in oxford, ohio, which also happens to be the alma mater of the republican vice presidential nominee paul ryan. we'll have much more of the coverage of the race to the white house and the recovery five days after superstorm sandy after this. ♪

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the outcome of the presidential race could be effected by some unlikely candidates. candidates that most americans know little about. we're talking about third party independents. jill stein from massachusetts is the green party nominee. she's a physician, instructor, and mother. she believes higher education should be free. rocky anderson is a former mayor of salt lake city, utah, and is the justice party nominee for president. he wants an immediate end to the war in afghanistan. and he wants health care coverage for everyone. virgil goode is the constitution party nominee, a one-time democrat who turned republican. he served in the house of representatives from 1997 to 2009. he hails from the battleground state of virginia. and gary johnson, he's the libertarian nominee, he's a formerriment republican governor

of new mexico who believes america should end the war on drugs and legalize marijuana. for the first time ever, last week a debate involving these four took place. longtime talk show host larry king moderated the debate in chicago. he's joining us right now from los angeles. good to see you, larry. >> good to see you, fred. always good to be with you. >> excellent. at that debate, we heard everything from marijuana to new constitutional amendments. things obama and romney have steered clear of. let's take a listen. >> let's legalize marijuana now. and right now in this country, we are at a tipping point. >> we're calling for a constitutional amendment. >> ten seconds. >> to clarify that money is nat speech and that corporations are not people. >> neither of them talk about catastrophic climate change, and neither of them talk about poverty. >> i'm for no political action

committee. individual contributions only, and no super pacs. >> so larry, is there any indication at this junksure whether any of these four are getting any traction? >> johnson is. he's the libertarian candidate. he was a two-time governor of new mexico. governor romney's campaign has tried to keep him off the ballot. he's on in 49 states and he's a write-in in the other. he's a slight threat to the republicans. i don't think the others are threats at all. however, fred, they brought up points never discussed in the debates. drugs were never discussed. having a drug czar was never discussed. i think obama said he would eliminate it but we still have a drug czar. and a lot of the things that were just mentioned were not brought up in the debates. i think these people deserve to be heard. they're not going to win. they could have an effect. i do think, fred, i don't know

if you agree, the only way a third party gets prominence in the united states, it has to be heralded by one strong individual. we go back to ross perot who started on our show and then cnn. if you have a ross perot character with a weakened president and a challenger that might have a scandal, that could emerge. other than that, i don't see the third parties having great impact in this country. >> what were some of the contrasts, maybe the similarities as well to the debate that you moderated and what we have seen in the three presidential debadz, the one vice presidential one you brought up. >> well, this was a social network debate. the questions were mostly submitted by people on facebook and twitter. the subjects, again, were not covered in the other debates. i think the pace moved faster. there were time limits, and as a moderator, i held to the time limits. two minutes and one minute rebuttals. i held to that. i think everybody got equal time, and all of the times were

kept. we allowed the studio audience to participate. so you heard cheering, you heard reaction to various statements made. i think it made for a lively 90 minutes. >> of those candidates, you say johnson is the one who poses the biggest threat to the republican party. as you reflect, you talked to an awful lot of president, candidates over the year, et cetera, when you try to draw comparisons to the many people you have gotten to know at your table, do you feel like this race is particularly polarized more so than any other race thtn you have seen, presidential race? >> yeah, it is. i have been involved in presidential -- as a broadcaster since i was in miami in the 1960 campaign. and that race, i listened to that debate on the radio. that was the first ever debate between the candidates running on television, nixon and kennedy. if you listened on the radio, you thought it was even. if you watched it on television,

you thought kennedy won because of the way they looked. this is the most vituperative of campaigns. the most calming thing has been the debates. the debates have been more calming than the campaigns have been. and frankly, i think we run too long in this country. england, i think, takes two months to run a campaign. i would guess, i don't know about the folks at cnn or you yourself, i would guess people can't wait for this to be over. and i also can't believe that some are still undecided. if you're undecided now, i don't know where you're living. i don't buy it. i figured it out, fred. there's one guy in toledo, manny schwartz, he works in a delicatessen, he's the deciding vote in this election. >> very perplexing. very difficult at this point to not know which way you're going. i'm with you. it's very difficult to grasp. what more do you need to hear?

>> do you know anyone? i know of nobody who is undecided? >> i met someone this week, person to person, we had a great conversation and i'm still perplexed. we'll see hot happens. larry king, thank you so much. of "larry king now" great to see you. >> bye, thanks. humor and politics? can they go together? strange bed fellows. but they do work on the big screen. at least in some political c come comedies. we'll name three. ♪ atmix of energies.ve the world needs a broader that's why we're supplying natural gas to generate cleaner electricity... that has around 50% fewer co2 emissions than coal. and it's also why, with our partner in brazil, shell is producing ethanol - a biofuel made from renewable sugarcane. >>a minute, mom! let's broaden the world's energy mix. let's go.

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all right, just three days away from the presidential election, and this week, we're taking a political spin on movie reviews. last week, our movie critic grae drake gave us her three top political dramas. this week, she's counting down her political comedies. grae drake joining us now from los angeles. good to see you as always. >> hello. >> hello, number three on your list is "wag the dog." let's take a peek as a little reminder. >> why come to me? >> we want you to produce. >> you want me to produce your war? >> not a war. it's a pageant. we need a theme, a song,

visuals. it's a pageant. >> what did you like about this? >> "wag the dog" shows how closely related show biz has been to politics. and robert de niro as you saw, as that spin doctor who is hired to take attention away from a sex scandal. does that sound familiar in the '90s? back when we were discussing the meaning of is, this movie came out and was so close to reality, i'm not entirely convinced it hasn't already happened in real life. like maybe some day christopher nolan is going to win the award for the war on terror. >> number two, let's move on to "the election" and watch a clip of it. >> capitals were pretty good, even if you got a rotten one once in a while, but then one day, there's an orange. and now you can make a decision. do you want an apple or do you

want an orange? that's democracy. >> i also like bananas. >> why do i not remember that movie "the election"? >> i don't know that many people do remember it. it was directed by alexander payne, and ferris bueller himself takes it upon himself to take down one of his students, so this isn't just about elections. this is about education. tracy slick is played by reese witherspoon who is that girl in high school that we all hated. she has tons of ambition and unlimited resources. she's kind of a monster, but we all know she's going places, and this movie is mean and hilarious, and really sharp satire. >> wow. you know, sometimes it is fun to laugh at one's self or laugh at politics because we take it so seerbiously, don't we? let's move on to the number one

pick "dr. strangelove" let's look. >> am i to understand the ambassador is to be admitted to the war room? >> that's correct. he's here on my order. >> i don't know exactly how to put this, sir, but are you aware of what a serious breach of security that would be? you see everything. you can see the big board. >> not the funniest clip, but what do you like about this one? >> we don't want the russian guy to see the big board, fredricka. that's a huge problem. our whole government defense relies on the big board. stanley kubrick directed this and it has to be number one. there are no hanging chads in my number one because this is such a sharp, sharp joke about what happens when the government has to assemble and do something really quickly. now, you and i both know we're not exactly engineered for that.

so in dr. strangelove, a general decides he's going to drop the bomb on russia, which is a huge problem. so peter sellers in this movie playing numerous roles as he always does, he has to kind of coral all of these people in the government and try to stop this, the crazy war that's going to happen just randomly on one day. and this movie just keeps getting better with age because, you know, lines never stop being funny, as our world gets more and more ridiculous in real life. like george c. scott and the russian ambassador are fighting and peter sellers has to break it up by saying, you can't fight in here. this is the war room. >> i love it. >> and it's a classic. 1964. you are reaching back. not to confuse it with "dr. no." you start thinking about james bond movies, especially since we have been engamed in so much bond stuff with the release of

the double-box set, but "dr. strangelove" a classic, a stand out in and of itself and your number one. >> yes, and thanks to my dad who showed this to me as a young age and taught me not to fight in the war room and show people the big boards. important lessons. >> thanks so much. always good to see you. hopefully you have already voted early or you're going to be getting out to vote on tuesday, yes? >> oh, i'm definitely there. there's no question. that's one of the things that "dr. strangelove" made me understand, that voting is important. we can't have a bunch of knuckle heads in office, right? >> thanks so much. good to see you in los angeles. you can get more from grae at rottentomatoes.com. >> new election polls are out. the numbers say the same thing, though. the race is very tight. how tight? we'll dig deeper into the new numbers with two members of congress. ♪

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and the candidate's speech is in pieces all over the district. the writer's desktop and the coordinator's phone are working on a joke with local color. the secure cloud just received a revised intro from the strategist's tablet. and while i make my way into the venue, the candidate will be rehearsing off of his phone. [ candidate ] and thanks to every young face i see out there. [ woman ] his phone is one of his biggest supporters. [ female announcer ] with cisco at the center... working together has never worked so well. it's the top of the hour. welcome back. you're in the cnn newsroom. i'm fredricka whitfield. the final push is on with the clock ticking. the candlets are launching one last battleground blitz.

obama is campaigning in ohio, wisconsin, and iowa. while mitt romney is focusing on new hampshire, iowa, and colorado. millions of americans have already cast their ballots and some are taking advantage of early voting today. take a look at the huge lines in plantation, florida. the wait there has been up to three hours in some places. barack obama heads towards election day with the lead among early voters in some key states. but it's not as big as the one he had over john mccain four years ago. of all the swing states, ohio could be the most important. no one had won the presidency without the buckeye state since 1960, and a brand new cnn/orc poll shows the candidates there are in a statistical dead heat. 50% of likely voters favor president obama while 47% support mitt romney. an nbc/wall street journal/maris poll shows a wider gap with

obama leading by six points. it's a tight race in florida as well. a poll shows obama leading by just two points, but a mason dixon poll gives romney the edge. 51% of likely voters say they'll vote for the republican candidate, while 45% say they'll vote for obama. so another state that could be a make or break state for both campaigns, we're talking about colorado now, which is home to nine electoral votes. in 2008, obama won that state. but in the past, it has favored republicans. kyung lah joins us from englewood, colorado, where mitt romney will be holding a rally later on today. nearly 1.5 million people have already voted in colorado there by mail-in, early voting, et cetera. what is the impact that is expected? >> well, what we're expecting is that we're going to know colorado very quickly, if it is overwhelmingly one way or the

other. that's according to the secretary of state. this complicates things for those trying to get registered independents on their side, specifically mitt romney. if you look at the numbers, 85% of all registered voters will have voted before tuesday. already, we're hearing 1.6 million votes have already been sent in to the secretary of state's office. that's what we know. the tough job for governor romney now is to try to capture a dwindling number of registered independents. and he's got to try to fire them up. so is that working? well, we talked to a guy who is standing in line. he's a registered independent, and here's what he told us. >> we're pumped, energized, ready to go, yeah. absolutely. can't wait for tuesday. >> polls are showing it's a dead heat. >> really close. >> what is it going to take for your guy to win? >> don't know. what more can you say? turnout. >> so will he get the turnout? in the ground game here, and if you go to looking back at the last romney event, the last big one was at the red rock

amphitheater, they had to turn people away. the people who attended that said it felt more like an obama 2008 event than something that they have seen from the republicans. so certainly there is energy on the republican side, but we should point out, fredricka, that the latest cnn poll does show president obama leading governor romney by a few percentage points. >> and so kyung, what about the so-called suburban mom. a lot of discussion has been taking place in colorado about how potentially influential they are. >> a very influential vote. let me give you the big picture first. colorado has one third registered republicans. one third registered democrats, and a third registered independents. drill it down even further, among those registered independents, suburban mothers who are unaffiliated. they're the ones who overwhelmingly voted for president obama in 20008, and the republicans are trying to bring them back into the fold. we have spoken to some of the

suburban moms and they say it's working. some of them really want to go with governor romney. they don't feel the job security has been there, that president obama won't give it to them in the next four years. but then you talk to another suburban mom sitting next to her and she's going to stick with president obama in part because the deciding factor for her are the social issues. there are a lot of issues that go into play, but i have to say, top of the issues here is job security. >> all right, kyung lah, thanks so much from colorado. apprec athat. let's drill down deeper on the strategy of both of the candidates and see how the last-minute campaigning is shaking out. joining me now is tom price. a republican congressman from georgia and the chairman of the committee's policy committee. good to see you. and che sheila jackson, a democc congresswoman from texas, and she's not joining us from texas today. she's out on the campaign trail in columbus, ohio. good to see you as well, congresswoman. >> fredricka, good to be with

you this afternoon. >> excellent. let's begin. we're talking about these candidates, president obama, mitt romney, they are crisscrossing these battleground states. let me begin with you, congressman price. you heard kyung talking about colorado being so vital. it was obama country during the last election, but with the one third independent voters made up much of suburban moms, is this a strategy that romney is going to be spending more time there later on today. how focused is he on colorado and trying to sway perhaps those one third independent voters? >> that's colorado and it's wisconsin and it's ohio and pennsylvania and all of the other states that are still in play. and the independent voters are indeed absolutely pivotal. each candidate want to make sure they get out their base, their base voters. when we look at the independent votes which is why we believe so strongly that governor romney will be the next president, we see high single and even double

digit leads in the polls by romney and ryan. their job is to deliver the final message of optimism and hope in america and urging people to get out to the polls. >> let's talk about the independents because in the 2008 race, president obama, then candidate obama, was really able to appeal to the independents. in this case, it's not so cut and dry. what's the strategy or the focus as he campaigns against the battleground states? >> obviously, we feel very good about the campaign over the next couple days. i have been in ohio. i happen to be in a new congressional candidate's district, congresswoman baeatty with the congressional black caucus and we're assured by the sentiment and tone from colorado to wisconsin, ohio, virginia, we're certainly still working in north carolina, but here is the key. independent voters did vote for president obama in 2008. independent voters like to set the country right side up. they understand president obama

has been the leader in turning this country around, so much so that its growth and job creation keeps going up and up. they like to see an optimistic approach to government. that's what president obama has. they're also big believers in education. for a candidate like mitt romney who wants to abolish the department of education, we think we have a greater message for the independents, for women. we certainly are protecting women's health care. those are issues the independents are interested in. as well as the economy. who are they going to choose? someone who sides with sort of the antiquated views of abolishing or eliminated planned parenthood and attacking women's health care or look to someone who believes in embracing all of america. that's an optimistic view. we're optimistic and working hard and we really believe that nments along with those who are champions of president obama's cause will come to recognize that america is greater when we're united together. that's how the vote will turn out on november 6th. >> so congressman, is that a big

obstacle. is there a sentiment that romney's views are antiquated and he's trying to overcome that. >> great talking points by sheila jackson, clearly, but not the truth. the question is whether or not the american people want more of the president that results in higher taxes, more spending of money we don't have, greater regulations, decreasing ability for job creators to create jobs. or do they want to move in a direction that is positive and upbeat for america with lower taxes, less regulation and making certain we balance the budget and decrease the debt and deficit. that's the kind of positive work romney is bringing. that's the kind of work he's done in the private sector and in the public sector which is why americans recognize he could work across party lines and move progress forward for america. >> that brings me to the other wurbd that has come up a lot, big government, as it pertains to mitt romney. now you have this crisis, this natural disaster that took place, and you talk about the

bipartisanship. we have seen how government has needed to step in by way of fema. romney has, you know, points of view in the primary, drudged up again by him saying fema is not necessary. then we talk about bipartisanship. you're seeing president obama standing right next to what was a number one surrogate for romney. so you know, in the end, has this natural disaster how kind of skewed or changed some of the opinions or sentiments about what romney has been saying about government not working, government being too intrusive? >> nobody's suggesting that governor christy still isn't indorsing and supporting governor romney. clearly, he has and continues to do so. the fact is -- of the matter is we don't want government, we want it to be efficient and positive and working for individuals, not against individuals. so governor romney never said we don't need fema. what he said it was the local and state governmental entities

that were the first individuals in in a disaster. that's exactly true. >> let me say this, fredricka. let me say this as a member of the homeland security committee, i thank my good friend from georgia, we worked together, and i must say that president obama has worked in the last four years with republican members of congress. with senators, with house members on a number of different issues, patent law, a number of issues dealing with energy, a number of issues dealing with building up business opportunities. but the real policy questions that will help america, president romney to be if he's trying to be president, excuse me, is arguing that government should be small. plain and simple. not prophetic, a gross error. he's arguing for government to be small. he wanted to eliminate fema. he wanted to eliminate the department of education. >> not true. >> you can't flip-flop as he has done and now in the tragedy of

sandy, which i have been through with katrina and rita down on the gulf, you have to know that government has a purpose. i have always said that. it can be constructive. it's an umbrella on a rainy day to take the story at hand with sandy's enormous storm. but governor romney does not want to support government in the way that helps people. and that means eliminating medicare. it means not caring about seniors, not providing for pell grants. you can't flip-flop in the last hours to suggest you would embrace government. we all want government to be efficient, and president obama has been a leader. he has the smallest federal government we have had in decades under president obama. smallest number of employees, but it has been efficient enough to be effective on the east coast, rising to the occasion, to the extent that republican governors have given the president and his team compliments in their responsiveness and the mayor of new york has endorsed him. it's not about that. it's about the president wanting to support a constructive

government and governor romney who is trying to be president, running against an efficient government. i think americans will see the wrongness of that. >> it's about whether or not the american people believe that 23 million unemployed americans is all right, whether they believe $5 trillion more debt under this president is all right, or whether we want to go in a direction that pulls people together, that creates jobs. 12 million jobs that governor romney has laid out for his first term, and moving in a direction so that government isn't spending more money than it takes in. >> clearly, it sounds like jobs, government -- >> president obama has created jobs, particularly in ohio where we restored the auto industry. no one can take that away from this past administration, but what they can attribute to governor romney is let them go bankrupt, and also a misleading and distorting ad that tells not the truth but a distortion of that which is so unfair.

they will vote the truth and the truth will set them free, and they will vote november 6th and be free. >> excellent, thanks so much to both of you. i appreciate it. of course, the drum beat carries on. just three days to go until election day. many discussions to be had before folks in large numbers hopefully make it to the polls. thanks so much to both of you. appreciate. it's canceled for the first time in 42 years. talking about sunday's new york city marathon. critics were afraid the race would hurt the sandy recovery efforts. now runners have turned their attention from the race to those most in need. [ male announcer ] you are a business pro.

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all right, you know by now the world renowned new york city marathon has been canceled. mayor michael bloomberg made the decision yesterday. he faced a lot of pressure because many said the race would divert resources and manpower from the victims of sandy. well, the race has been run every year since 1970, and it draws runners worldwide. many runners supported the cancellation, even encouraged it. and they took offense to being called insensitive to sandy's victims. >> when the marathon was told to be pushing through and then there were some talks about the runners not being sensitive to the people in need, i think that's a little bit sad because as runners, we came here to help and support also the people. and you know, we thought if the marathon was pushed through, we would actually help the city get back on its feet.

but now that it's not pushing through, we're still here to help. and our hearts go out to the city of new york. >> joining me now, celebrity runner, tanya from hg tv's bang for your buck. good to see you. >> good to see you. thank you so much for having me. >> you traveled from far and wide as well. she traveled from the philippines. you traveled from arizona? >> arizona. >> you traveled from arizona to make it to the new york city marathon only to find out it was canceled. so how disappointed were you? >> honestly, if this was causing dissension between the residents of new york city, mayor bloomberg did the right thing. he should have done it sooner. people are losing their lives, they don't have power, they're afraid of freezing. this race brings the city together. it shouldn't calls dissension. he made the right decision by cancelling it and sending though

resources to the people that truly need them. >> and so now i understand an awful lot of runners who made that trip have decided, okay, i'm here. i'm going to be a volunteer. i'm going to help. there are a whole lot who turned out to staten island earlier today to help in any way, shape, or form. what are you going to do? >> that's exactly right. and that's where i got really excited yesterday when they did cancel the race. i didn't have to run 26.2 miles. >> you've been training for it, wait a minute? >> and i was running for north shore animal league. i called north shore immediately and asked them what i could do to help them. i'm actually walking dogs and helping the north shore animal league. they're the largest no-kill shelter in the world and they have taken in over 90 animals. and they're up at nassau community college right next to the red cross so the people in the shelter can actually see their pets, and they're caring for their pets. i'm up there helping them as much as i can and then i'm heading to staten island tomorrow as well.

>> what do you suppose you're going to be able to do in staten island because they're trying to organize the flood of helping hands and want to figure out how to best utilize everybody. what are you hoping you might be assigned or volunteer to do? >> that's exactly the problem, there are a lot of volunteers. people don't know what to do. honestly, i don't care if i'm shoveling sand or moving furniture or have a dryer in someone's house, i think the point is we need to unite and come together and help the people that really need it. new york is a comeback city. they'll come back again. if the people from the philippines and everybody who was here to run the race helps, we'll make it a little better. >> in the meantime, you know, with the hg tv show "bang for your buck" we get to see your expertise is in the real estate industry. i understand you are, you know, licensed in many states, including that of new york. so when we talk about some of the hard hit areas, queens, the ro rockaways, et cetera, you have a point of view about the obstacles that might be ahead for some of those homeowners.

namely the ones who were living in homes where they may have been behind in their payments, facing foreclosure, et cetera. what is this recovery likely to be for them? or the rebuilding efforts, the response? >> right, so in september, we actually saw existing home sales jump 11% over the past year. we were actually getting into a little bit of a positive situation for housing. this is actually going to set back the national housing numbers. let alone new york's housing numbers. foreclosures in new york on average take 900 days. there were a lot of people in the foreclosure process who may say, this is far too much. i'm not going to try to modify, i'm not going to try to do anything. i'm going to walk away. that leaves the burden on the banks. the banks are going to have a lot of decisions to make. do they fix them, sell them as is and let investors come in and create the home and make the money on them? what are they going to do?

but there's a lot of decisions to be made when it comes to housing. one of the hardest things for a lot of new yorkers is these homes are passed on from generation to generation. so there may not be homes that they want to give up. they want to re-create these homes, they want to make it home again. that's where they're really going to have to understand that yes, there's going oo be assistance from fema and your insurance, but you're going to have to get in and do some sweat equity to get the homes back to where they were. >> thank you so much. i won't wish you the best or break a leg because you're not running tomorrow, but i wish you the best on your volunteerism activity tomorrow because, yeah, there's going to be a lot of heavy lifting, but the people in staten island are grateful you and so many other runners are volunteering to help them out. thank you for your time. >> straight ahead, i'll have the story of an injured veteran who took his disability and turned it into an inspiration for others. built around a state of mind? e

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often we hear stories of men and women coming home from war broken and struggling to find their place. maybe they are disabled or they can't figure out the next step.

but one injured veteran in alabama is turning his disability into an inspiration and a better life for his family. his story in this welcome home. a wave of patriotism swept the country in the wake of 9/11 and it changed noah galloway's life. >> i joined the army immediately after september 11th. i was going to the school at the university of birmingham. after we were attacked, i felt like it was what i needed to do. >> he deployed to iraq in 2003 and again in 2005. when he was injured by a roadside bomb. he lost his left arm, left leg, and his jaw had to be reconstructed. it also marked the end of his first marriage. >> i laid in the hospital bed and where remember thinking it was all over. i was very physical, i lost two limbs, a wife. i remember thinking i would much rather have died than to have

woken up like this. >> then he recorrected with a childhood love who renewed his strength. >> heshe's a big part of what g me out of the hospital as quickly as i did. >> noah and tracy now have two children in addition to noah's son from his first marriage. tracy is candid about the emotional toll of his husband's injury. >> i think his disability makes things a little different. little things that people don't think about, he wasn't able to do. but then again, he amazes me every day, too, because if i were in his position, i probably wouldn't want to get out of bed. >> galloway runs races like warrior dash, tough mudder, and even the marine corps marathon to challenge himself and inspire others. >> way to go. >> he also paired up with team extreme, which runs these races in gas masks, to raise awareness for injured veterans. >> we still have veterans coming out of afghanistan with

injuries. and it's not that i'm this incredible guy, but my injury was before them. if i can show them the roult route i took to success, they can follow the same. that makes me feel good. >> galloway has a website and is trying to get sponsors which he hopes will lead to a new career. >> it's been a struggle finding where i fit in with work and having found that there is a possibility of making a living off being somewhat of a special athlete. i go to the races, i'm not winning, but i'm a guy missing an arm and leg and pushing it, and people see that. >> extraordinary. you can read more about noah galloway and others at project visibility.org. >> and in a minute, i'll tell you why the u.s. justice department is sending out hundreds of monitors to polling stations.

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all right, welcome back. we mentioned the candidates are crisscrossing all of the battleground states. virginia is one of them. one of the swing states. you're looking at eric cantor, house majority leader. however, any moment now, we understand vice presidential nominee paul ryan will be entering, and he'll be rallying there in richmond, virginia. when that happens, we'll take that live. meantime, the other swing state, florida, democrats in that state are looking for an extension of early voting now. cnn's joe johns joining me from washington with more on this. why the extension? what's happening? >> well, essentially they're going to go to the very different states, look around, and see if all the laws are being followed that the united states congress passed. going to 23 different states, fred, including six battleground states. seven different locations inside the state of florida just by itself. and think of what's going on there right now. we have gotten reports of very long lines on the last day of

early voting. people waiting three hours, even four hours, just to cast a ballot. and as you know, the democratic senator bill nelson there, has asked the republican governor, rick scott, to extend early voting. this being the last day. so far, the governor has said no. there's a lot for the justice department observers to keep an eye on, at least in the sunshine state. >> and so joe, are we talking about just extending it throughout the day instead of say, 7:00 being the time the polls close this evening, it would be 10:00 p.m., or are we talking about extending it into a whole other day? >> i have heard it both ways. i heard extending it into sunday, of course, that's problematic because as you know, the state of florida passed a bunch of different laws including cutting off that last sunday before election day as an early voting day. they say they did that because they wanted to give the election

officials more time to prepare for tuesday. and the idea that they would now come at the 11th hour and switch back to the old scheme doesn't sound like something the governor would want to do. >> okay, and as it pertains to the justice department election monitors, what would they be doing as they descend on so many states or locations that they want to keep a closer watch on? is it as simple as them standing there and just observing the people. >> yeah. >> doing the right thing? what is it? >> right, it depends on the state. you have a bunch of different states that come under what's called the voting rights act of 1965. and these states have different places inside the state, a county, a city, what have you, that have been adjudicated years ago as perhaps having a problem with dealing with minorities and the vote. so there's a certain setof rules that go along with those

individual locations. then there are other states that they're just interested in. a couple spots in the state of ohio, for example, where they want to go and watch and see what's going on. we're told a lot of this has to do with concerns about language on the ballot, so you have latinos or asians or others who have an equal right, certainly, to vote, and the question is whether they can read and understand the ballot well enough to vote. so that goes into it. and there are a lot of other concerns. none of which the department of justice shares with us until they run out and file a lawsuit or something. >> right. all right, joe johns, thanks so much from washington. appreciate that. >> something else that considered a pretty big challenge or obstacle right now. in states like connecticut, new jersey, and new york. how do people vote? given what took place with that superstorm sandy? five days after the storm, polling station managers are

working to make sure voting goes as smoothly as possible. but is that a difficult undertaking? joining me to explain what they're doing in connecticut, connect kick' secretary of state, denise merril, good to see you. >> good to see you. >> i understand already in some portions of connecticut like greenwich, everything is working again. you have the polling stations in place. but then are there other areas in connecticut that were impacted by the storm where things are not up and running. the polling stations and power is not up and running? >> there are still a few that we're worried about, probably a handful at this points, but we've been in communication with all of the 169 towns where these elections are held. we don't have a county election system in connecticut, so that's a big challenging. but we're pretty confident we will have most of the polling places up and running and generators standing by if needed. >> so this means that early voting was interrupted, right,

in many of these jurisdictions? does that mean that you are anticipating longer lines, you know, more frustrated voters come tuesday? >> well, actually, in connecticut, we don't have early voting, and we have very strict absentee ballot laws which have gotten in our way a little bit because we have workers from out of state that were struggling to figure out how we're going to get them a ballot. so that's one of our remaining problems. but in general, yes, there will be -- we're going to be watching it closely to make sure that everyone gets to cast their ballot on election day. >> interesting. no early voting in your state. however, were there a lot of people displaced by the storm and one of the challenges might be how to get to the polling station? >> absolutely. and i did a tour yesterday of places like greenwich and our biggest city, which is bridgeport, where there are a lot of poor and frail elderly people, and they're all clustered along the shoreline. there are some concerns there, some of them are still in

shelters. many of them still have no power. we do have power to most of the polling places, but i think there are some concerns about actually reaching people and getting them to vote. >> but it sounds like you're feeling very confident that people's voting rights will not be interrupted in a big way come tuesday in connecticut. >> well, we're working hard on it, and there's been a lot of communication necessary, and we'll be monitoring things to make sure that things are going well. it is a challenge, though. an additional one on top of others we had. but we're hopeful. >> all right, connecticut's secretary of state, thanks for your time and all the best to you and your voters come tuesday. >> thank you. as the candidates continue to carry out their blitz of the swing states, including that of virginia, right now the governor speaking, they're waiting paul ryan, the vice presidential republican nominee to enter. paul ryan will be campaigning right there in richmond, virginia. when that happens, we'll take you there. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 let's talk about your old 401(k).

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all right, something brand new that lets you see your ballot before you vote. and you can find out how much campaign spending money has reached your state. josh is here to show us all of that and more. >> fred, you know, there are some amazing people in the cnn.com world who dream up the great ideas and then they pop up right here. people like to joke about how we get big maps. these are ones you get to move around and folks, all of them have hard information i think you're going to be interested in. let's start with this one right here which is called the road to 270. we're showing you at any given moment the prediction for the electoral results inside this

election. you can see what we think the states are going to do and we'll continue to update this as time goes on. i want to jump across the screen and show you something brand new. look at this. how much money has been spent by each candidate in each state in the entire country. also how many times they have traveled to each state, how much money they have raised in each state. all you have to do is click on a state, and look at the breakdown here. this is how far folks went. let's see if we can weigh in to this. colorado, not only are we showing you ad spending. we're also showing you approximately how many of the ads were positive and negative. you can compare two states and any category you want. let's zoom in over here. i want to show you this. a few clicks. you compare any state in any category. just as an example, i pulled up colorado and ohio to see how many times the candidates have visited. you can then with one click save this image, share it on facebook, share it on twitter. do anything you want with it, and send it to your friends in different states with all of the facts about how much money is

going into each of these states. another thing you should see, really impressed by here, you can see your ballot starting right now. all you need to do is go to our website, and what you'll see is a place you can click on and see all of the races in your area. i clicked on my home town, albany, new york, to give you an example. they'll show you the ballots and the questions you'll be facing. and one more thing, my facebook page has now been tricked out with this thanks to our team here. they set up the i'm voting app. check it out at my facebook page. one thing to know, a really relevant and important study found social media can get people to show up to the polls. so we have hooked up with facebook in an effort to make that happen. check it out there. all of this is linked at my stwiter and facebook, josh levscnn. >> we have a change of pace next hour. this is going to be big. over the past week, we have seen astounding videos and photos which tell stories you have not

yet heard about superstorm sandy. some are heartbreaking, some are hopeful and will even make your laugh. we have that coming up 4:30 to 5:00. be that for that half hour. you'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll love it. >> thank you so much. again, we continue to watch the candidates as they stump in a final blitz this weekend, particularly in the battleground states. you look at richmond, virginia, the romney/ryan plane has landed. paul ryan will be speaking soon and we'll take you there live as it happens. customer erin swenson bought from us online today.

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she's been campaigning on behalf of the president. earlier in the week, she was in las vegas and wearing an outfit that kind of looked like a paper ballot, a ballot for her selection of the obama/biden ticket, and later on in the 4:00 eastern hour, when he arrives, we'll take that live. right now in richmond, virginia, republican vice presidential nominee paul ryan is speaking there. >> like that smart person over there or a redskins fan. we love this country. we've got serious problems in this country. that requires serious solutions. and in order to put serious solutions in place, you need to elect a leader. that's why in three days, we need to elect mitt romney the next president of the united states.

you know, in the closing moments of the campaign, it's what you can see really what a campaign is all about at times. in these last hours, let me read you a quote from four years ago. if you don't have any fresh ideas, then you use stale tactics to scare voters. if you don't have a record to run on, then you paint your opponent as someone people should run from. you make a big election about small things. you remember who said that four years ago? you do remember. that's what barack obama said in 2008. sadly, that's exactly what he has become. as candidate in 2008, he appealed to our highest aspirations. now, he's appealing to our lowest fears. just yesterday, he suggested to his supporters that people ought

to vote out of revenge. look, mitt romney and i are asking for your vote, and asking for your vote, and we are asking you to vote out of love for country. that is the kind of election we want. that is the kind of victory we want. that is the kind of victory you deserve. usa, that is right, usa. >> usa, usa, usa, usa, usa, usa. >> in 2008, president obama made lots of grandiose promises. you remember hope and change? remember how he would bring everybody together? he has not met with our party leaders since last july. remember when he said he would cut the deficit in half? it has doubled. remember when he said he would create all of these jobs?

look, we just got the latest employment report. and the unemployment rate is higher than the day he took office. you have got 23 million americans struggling to find work in this country today. 15% of our fellow citizens are living in poverty today. it is the highest rate in a generation. we are nine million jobs shy of what he said we would achieve if only he could borrow all the stimulus money and spend it on all of these interest groups. look, this isn't working. we have a jobs crisis. wouldn't it be nice to have an actual job creator in the white house during a jobs crisis? we need leadership. you know, one of my favorite historians, a guy named rufus fears, he did all of these

election studies on virginia, on the founders, and the four common themes and principles, the characteristics that define a great leader in a nation's time when it needs a great leader, he said this: you need a leader with a moral compass and a leader with a bed rock of principles, like our founding principles, you need a leader for the vision of the country and the skills to execute that vision. that is mitt romney. this is the man that is here for the moment. the man and the moment are meeting. look at what the man has done in his life. this is a man who when given a responsibility actually achieves. this is a man who where others have failed he has succeeded. this is a man who helped create tens of thousands of jobs, who turned around businesses. who helped struggling businesses. and by the way, being successful

in business, that is a good thing. we like success. we don't demean success, we don't envy success, we want other people to become successful. >> all right, vice presidential nominee paul ryan there in richmond, virginia, if you want to watch the rest of his statements there out of richmond you can go to cnn.com. next hour, president obama is scheduled to speak in milwaukee, wisconsin. we'll bring that to you live, as well. ♪ [ male announcer ] introducing the all-new completely re-imagined 2013 chevrolet malibu. sleek new styling... sophisticated dual cockpit design, and sport sculpted seats. available chevrolet mylink infotainment system. the all-new 2013 chevrolet malibu.

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all right, next hour, president obama will be taking the stage there in milwaukee, wisconsin. but right now you're seeing the warmup act of singer katy perry and her band there on stage. earlier in the week she was in las vegas, wearing a kind of ballot type of dress, saying she was all for obama, and biden today, it is all campaign forward. let's listen in. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

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room, i'm fredricka whitfield. superstorm sandy, the aftermath is the first thing we're tackling right now. work is getting under way to secure the new york city crane that partially collapsed during the storm, almost a symbol, a live shot of that right now. this is the top of that luxury condo building 157. and you can see the crane of it, the boom there, collapsed, dangling for five days now. it could be another six days or so before the workers are able to secure it. we also expect the mayor of new york city, michael bloomberg, to have a press conference and of course we'll bring it to you live when it happens. with just three days to go until election day, mitt romney and barack obama are giving their closing arguments to the public. and at this point it could go either way. the president is scheduled to speak at a rally in wisconsin in

just a couple of moments. and of course, he will still have plans to visit iowa and virginia before the day is done. earlier the president vowed to continue to fight for the middle class, and told a cheering crowd that he is someone who can be trusted. >> after four years as president. you know me. you may not agree with every decision i have made, you may, at times have been frustrated by the pace of change? but you know what i believe, you know where i stand. >> mitt romney is also hitting the campaign trail hard. he started his day, rather, in new hampshire, stopped off in iowa and now, he is heading to colorado where he will make two stops there. during a speak in iowa, the former massachusetts governor encouraged voters to reach out to others with a different political view and says he plans to put the country back on the right track. >> you know, yesterday the president said something you may have already heard. that i found troubling.

spoke to an audience and said voting is the best revenge. he is asking you supporters to vote for revenge. i'm asking you to vote for change. >> both president obama and mitt romney are still campaigning their nonstop. here is why, the latest poll shows ohio pretty close. the president had made it to the 50% mark. mr. romney has 47% of likely ohio voters. the nbc wall street journal poll taken during the same period shows obama over the 50% threshhold, at 51% and mr. romney at 45%. and with the 18 electoral votes, you can see ohio is the battleground of the battleground states. you can see what happens in the middle of the state in the

capitol of columbus, my colleague is there in the state. so don, what appears to be what you're hearing there? what are people focusing on? what is the criteria people are using to make up their minds if they have not already? >> reporter: well first, i think that people think that governor romney and the president have taken up residence here in the state because they have been here so much. they will make a couple of more stops before the next 72 hours. this is the state, to really make up their minds it is the economy, the economy, the economy, and i think that is what people are really concerned about. the social issues, obviously, that is part of it. but the time now, the time has passed, i should say for social issues. since that first debate, social issues out the window. it is really a numbers game now. and it is really about getting people to the polls to vote. and fred, that is what we're here doing, we're covering the

ground game. both pacampaigns are doing thei ground game to get people out to vote. and that is what we're covering, because man, it is really tight here. >> it is very tight, but it also seems that voters have made up their minds. it is very clear whether they're going to go democrat or republican, so one wonders why would the incumbent and the republican candidate spend so much time in ohio. why do they feel like they can sway the voters when it seems as though they have made up their minds? >> reporter: well, i think they want the voters here in ohio, to see that they're at the top of their mind, whether mitt romney was here or barack obama was here. we're covering the national polls, they don't really mean very much. what counts are the swing states. so what counts here, local news, local media,i getting local publicity so that they're on the

minds of the people. shaking hands, touching as many people as possible. so that is what the surrogates and others are doing, when they see them on the television, they just click away. people just sort of see it and tune it out. and now it is about personal contact, that is why they're coming here. >> uh-huh, we're looking at video of people knocking on doors, are people kind of receptive of the campaigners, trying to get those votes. they are being inundated with the television ads, sometimes that can be a turnoff, if anything. >> listen, it depends on the day, right? you know you can get a phone call, on your phone at home, and it can be someone and you can be nicer, and say you know what, please don't call back, thank you very much. so it depends on the day and the mood. they're having -- they're

getting some traction, some good reception, some people call and just hang up. we did a story the other day, the caller was for a romney person, said i just want to know if you're going to support governor romney come election day, and she goes hello, hello, hello? she laughed and said i guess that is a no. so it depends on the person, the day and mood. they're getting some traction and getting people out to vote. hey, quickly, what i found, first-time voters, they're trying to get as many people in their ranks as possible. so i was at a polling place and the first time voter comes in, and people applaud. and we turned around to look at the first time vote r. it was not an 18-year-old, but 40s, 50s, 60s, it was older people. >> what is the story behind that? why? >> reporter: i think because

they have the initiative, the ground game, and because the secretary of state in part sent ballots and applications to every single registered voter here in the state. and so that touched both people. i don't know who will energize the most, the right or left, but they thought this sort of levelled the playing field. so they need to be on their game. >> yes, and the story why this is behind the story of the first time election, the person in their 40s and 50s, why this galvanized to get them to get out to vote. that has to be a compelling story. all right, don lemon, thank you, you will be anchoring your shows from ohio throughout the evening, so we'll be tuning in, of course. >> reporter: right here at the beautiful boat house restaurant in downtown columbus. >> all right, love it. thank you so much, don, appreciate it. another midwestern state that will factor in tuesday's

outcome is iowa. that could play a significant role in how people vote. >> reporter: in the heart of des moines, they gather to talk faith, family and the presidential election. >> honestly what it all comes down to is what does the bible say and which candidate will follow the closest? >> reporter: for bob and rachel bradshaw, that candidate is mitt romney. >> i don't know how in his right mind the president could be for abortion the way he is, and support same-sex marriage. it is just hard for me that somebody that claims to be a christian, you know, makes statements to support things like that. >> it has not been an easy choice to make, either way. >> reporter: this family has fought with their vote. >> my religious believes, in an

honesty, don't align with either one. in all honesty, it will probably be mitt romney. >> reporter: 57% of voters identified themselves at evangelicals, many were uneasy on romney's past on issues like abortion and the mormon faith. but that was then. you previously said that the romney campaign snubbed the social conservatives? >> i think he has tried to prove he has made that out reach to social conservatives and economic conservatives, he has done a good job here in iowa. >> reporter: while others seem to be moving to mitt romney's camp, here in dubuque, the president may face more of a challenge. the catholic voters here are split on issues like abortion, funding for contraception, and the government's role.

>> the life issues for many catholics, they hold that dear and central to their faith. but then there is this belief that remains that the democratic party somehow cares for the poor better. i think it comes down to that tension. >> reporter: how big a role does your catholic religion play in your vote? >> i think it is big, i'm an ex-nun. and i -- the group of nuns that i associate with this day push for obama. >> reporter: is the pro-choice stand difficult for you to reconcile? >> it was difficult, it bothered me a long, long time. >> reporter: as did the same-sex marriage issue, that she ultimately looked past, but for others, some issues are non-negotiatable. >> i am pro life and wanted an administration that supports

that view. and i would say the sanctity of life and marriage. >> poppy harlow, joining us, you have been all over the state, barack obama won in 2008 in that state. polls show he is ahead. but could mitt romney really make a run in these final three days? because it looks like the majority of people you spoke to in that piece are big advocates, big supporters of romney. >> reporter: well that is when you talk about mitt romney, they overwhelmingly backed santorum, but it seems that they moved into that romney camp, largely because they will oppose obama strongly on the same-sex marriage, and funding for contraception. now the religious vote, when you talk about catholic voters in dubuque, they were not traditionally in the vote, they

seem to be split more because how outspoken the president has been on those social issues and health care reform. i will tell you that neither of the groups we have talked to have been thrilled, necessarily, with their choices right now. and i think that is something that is very important, the enthusiasm, to get out to the polls, don was saying that every single vote counts in ohio and here. you need that enthusiasm, and we're not necessarily feeling that in iowa, fred. >> all right, poppy harlow, in dubuque. all right, a critical swing state, yes, florida qualifies. we'll tell you about a sometimes overlooked voting block that could make a difference in the sunshine state. [ woman ] it's 32 minutes to go time,

and the candidate's speech is in pieces all over the district. the writer's desktop and the coordinator's phone are working on a joke with local color. the secure cloud just received a revised intro from the strategist's tablet. and while i make my way into the venue, the candidate will be rehearsing off of his phone. [ candidate ] and thanks to every young face i see out there. [ woman ] his phone is one of his biggest supporters. [ female announcer ] with cisco at the center... working together has never worked so well. ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] some day, your life will flash before your eyes.

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baldwin. now, wisconsin, for the past several days all of us have been focused on what is happening on the east coast. and it is one of the worst storms we have ever seen. i have spent this morning talking to local and state officials there, and you know the loss of life, the hardships the folks are going through are just heartbreaking. and it is a reminder of how fragile things are sometimes. and as a nation, we have got to mourn those who have been lost. our thoughts and prayers go out to their families. you know, we're going to stay with the folks whose lives have been unended every step of the way, until we have fully rebuilt. that is what america does. that is what we're about.

because the thing is, in the midst of these tragedies we're also inspired, about heroes that go through buildings and wade through water, neighbors helping neighbors cope with tragedy, leaders of each party working together to fix what is broken. it is a spirit that says no matter how bad a storm is, no matter how tough times may get, we always bounce back because we're all in this together. we rise or fall as one nation, and as one people. and that spirit has guided this nation along its improbable journey for more than two centuries, and it is what carried us through the trials and tribulations of the past

years, we were in two wars and crisis, since the great depression. and today, we have created 5 million new jobs. the american auto industry is back on top. home values are on the rise, we depend less on foreign oil than in the last 20 years. and because of the service and sacrifice of our brave men and women, the war in iraq is over. the war in afghanistan is coming to a close. al-qaeda is on the run, osama bin laden is dead. so we made real progress these past four years. but wisconsin, we're all gathered here today because we have got more work to do. as long as there is a single american who wants a job but can't find one, our work is not even done. as long as their families are

working harder but falling behind, our work is not yet done. as long as there is a child any place in milwaukee, any place in wisconsin, any place in this country, who is languishing in poverty and barred from opportunity, our fight goes on. our fight goes on because this nation cannot succeed without a growing, thriving middle class. our fight goes on because america has always done best when everybody has got a fair shot. everybody is doing their fair share, everybody is playing by the same rules. that is what we believe. that is why you elected me in 2008. that is why i'm running for a second term as president of the united states of america.

now, wisconsin, in three days you have a choice to make. it is not a choice between two candidates or two parties, it is a choice between two very different visions for our future. it is a choice between a return to the top down economics that caused our economy to crash. vote -- it -- it is a choice between that and a future that is built on making sure everybody is playing their part, we're creating a strong and growing middle class, but also ladders of opportunity for people who are willing to work hard to get into that middle class. you know, and -- listen.

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. this month, the u.s. national soccer team advanced in world cup qualifying, thanks in large part to a half dozen german-born players fathered by american soldiers in the military. here is cnn george howell in the "black in america" report. >> reporter: this year marks the 25th anniversary of that famous phrase, but the impact of the u.s. military build-up in germany during the cold war is still being felt today in an unlikely place. the soccer field. a half dozen sons of american soldiers stationed in germany, born to german mothers have elected to play for the u.s. national soccer team rather than germany's in the last few years. for some, this decision relates to their racial identity. danny williams and the other five players all had

african-american fathers. what does it mean to be bi-racial in germany, versus is being biracial in the united states? >> when people look at me they know i'm not 100% german. i feel more american than german. >> reporter: he was the first to join the american soccer team. >> i'm different, when you see me, the german people, i'm a different guy, i'm mixed. >> reporter: unlike williams, whose american father raised him in germany, jones grew up in a single parent household. >> my mom and him, when i was young, went separate ways, and for me it was hard to grow up with no dad. >> reporter: but since playing for the u.s., jones has started up his relationship with his father, after scoring his first goal for the stars and stripes, jones performed a tribute for his father.

>> reporter: you gave a salute? >> yes, we called me after the game, saying thank you, your mother, father, everybody sees it, proud of you. >> reporter: a simple gesture of pride, but one rooted in history. george howell, cnn, miami. >> who is black in america, asking questions to be determined by your family or friends or what society says, cnn's soledad o'brien has more on this in a documentary produced only on cnn. and superstorm sandy roared ashore six days ago, and for many, life may never be the same. coming up, we'll take a look at the devastation, the aftermath and the efforts to rebuild through the eyes of our ireporters. what if there was a new way to deal with money

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